A computer, or host, connects to a network through an adapter that parses, or separates, each packet received over the network. The adapter may be known as a host Ethernet adapter (HEA). A packet is composed of an Internet protocol (IP) header and some data. The IP header is composed of several fields, such as source address, destination address, ports, protocol, and some transport protocol information. These fields are known as the 5-tuple, or connection identifier (Id), and are used to identify how the packet should be handled.
After parsing out the connection Id, the HEA sends the connection Id to a memory external to the adapter. The external memory may have a lookup table or connection table for looking up the treatment protocol for the packet. One problem with this is that the process of sending the connection Id to the memory and having the memory look up the treatment protocol for each packet is time-consuming, resulting in an undesirable latency for the look up of the treatment protocol for packets in the adapter. Storing the connection table in the adapter is not practical due to the size of the connection table.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method for reducing latency in a host Ethernet adapter (HEA). The present invention addresses such a need.